Bot-free meeting recording
Records the audio your Mac already plays and hears, without joining the meeting or appearing in the participant list. It can prompt you when a call app starts.
Parrot
Parrot is a free, open-source AI meeting recorder and live assistant for macOS 14+ on Apple Silicon. Record, search, and act on calls without a meeting bot.
Meeting recording with a live, document-grounded assistant
Parrot is a free, open-source meeting recorder and live AI assistant for macOS. It captures what the Mac plays and hears rather than joining calls as a bot, then transcribes meetings, detects speakers, and keeps calls available for later questions.
During a call, Parrot can use locally indexed PDFs, text files, and Markdown documents to suggest answers and cite their sources. Profiles tailor the assistant’s focus and post-call report to contexts such as sales discovery or interviews, while configurable local and cloud AI options let users choose how transcription and assistant processing are handled.
Key features
Document-grounded live assistant
Uses documents such as PDFs, text files, and Markdown as a local knowledge base. The assistant can quote sources, show where an answer came from, and answer questions during a call.
Local and configurable AI
Runs transcription, speaker detection, document indexing, and embeddings on the Mac when local options are selected. Cloud transcription and assistant providers can be enabled separately.
Call profiles and reports
Profiles define what the assistant watches for and how the post-call report is written. Built-in profiles cover call types such as sales discovery, interviews, one-to-one coaching, and investor updates; custom profiles can add rules, card types, and gauges.
Multilingual transcription and speaker detection
Automatically detects or lets you choose the call language, identifies speakers on the Mac, and can remember names for future calls. Reports and assistant responses are written in the call language.
Meeting access for AI apps
Makes meeting data available to connected apps including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor through a read-only workflow. Search, follow-up drafting, call preparation, and profile suggestions are supported subject to sharing controls.
Practical use cases
Answer customer and prospect questions
Load a pricing sheet, FAQ, or playbook before the call. Parrot can surface relevant excerpts and cite the source while the conversation is still happening.
Run structured sales discovery
Use a sales profile to watch for objections and buying signals, then review a report focused on budget, decision-makers, promises, and next questions.
Review interviews and coaching conversations
Create an interview profile with its own report sections and scorecard so candidate conversations can be reviewed consistently after the call.
Apply meeting-specific workflows
Connect the calendar to select profiles for particular event types and use on-device-only settings for calls that should not leave the Mac.
Work across a meeting archive
Ask Claude or another connected desktop AI app to search several calls, prepare for an upcoming conversation, draft follow-ups, or summarize commitments without modifying the meetings.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Free and open source under GPL-3.0, with no account required.
- Records meetings without a bot joining the call, and local processing options keep audio and other selected data on the Mac.
- Answers can be grounded in the user’s own documents and cite the source used.
- Profiles, language handling, speaker naming, and post-call reports support different meeting workflows.
- Read-only connections to Claude and other AI apps can search meetings and help with follow-up, preparation, and analysis.
Cons
- Requires macOS 14 or later on an Apple Silicon Mac.
- Cloud AI options may send transcript text to the selected provider; users must configure those services and keys when needed.
- The available pricing page does not document plan limits or additional pricing details.
FAQ
What platforms and meeting setups does Parrot support?
Parrot is designed for macOS 14 or later on Apple Silicon Macs. It records the audio your Mac plays and hears, so it can work with services such as Google Meet, Zoom, Teams, or a phone on speaker without joining the meeting as a bot.
How do I get started with Parrot?
No account is required. Download the macOS app, connect a calendar if you want profiles selected from events, and optionally add PDFs, text files, or Markdown documents for the assistant to use during calls.
Can Parrot run its AI locally?
Parrot can transcribe with Whisper or Parakeet on the Mac, or with supported cloud services when you enable them. Assistant processing can use local Ollama or configured providers such as Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter, or LM Studio; the app identifies what data each choice sends.
Can I use my Parrot meetings in Claude or other AI apps?
You can connect Parrot to Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or another MCP-compatible app. After enabling AI-app access in Parrot, the connected app can search meetings, transcripts, reports, notes, promises, talk-time data, and profile information according to the sharing settings.
Is Parrot free?
Parrot is free and open source under GPL-3.0. The supplied pricing page does not provide additional plan limits or paid pricing, so those details should be confirmed before publication if they become relevant.
Quick Facts
- Category
- AI meeting recorder
- Platform
- macOS 14 or later on Apple Silicon
- License
- Open source, GPL-3.0
- Account requirement
- No account required
- Knowledge sources
- PDF, text, and Markdown documents indexed on the Mac
- AI app workflow
- Read-only access through Claude, Codex, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible apps
Parrot Alternatives
QuickQuill
QuickQuill is a local-first macOS dictation and transcription app to record meetings, summarize audio, and export notes without the cloud.
MeetStream
MeetStream is a meeting bot API for Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Webex. Record, stream, and analyze meetings with usage-based pricing and $5 free credit.
Tactiq
Tactiq is an AI note taker for Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams that transcribes meetings live into summaries, action items, and follow-up outputs.
Notewarp
Notewarp is an AI note-taking tool that turns voice notes, uploads, or pasted text into cleaner notes, transcripts, summaries, and action items.
Scripta
Scripta is a privacy-first AI notetaker that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings on your device. Mac beta download available; Windows waitlist.
Liam
Liam is an AI copilot for inbox management, email replies, prioritizing messages, and scheduling meetings. Free for individuals; custom pricing for teams and enterprise.